my vote is solidly for unusual pets. i don't get the whole bunnies thing; first, they seem almost like the same topic to me, and second, you'll get a whole bunch of pictures of a smoldering, irradiated los angeles with bunnies picking at the bones of charred corpses. its not that there isn't a place to go with the topic (there's always somewhere fresh to go) but that topic so strongly suggests the gallows-humor route or the cute non-sequiter route or possibly the grotesque monster bunny route that i think you'll get illustrations rather than concept art.

actually, that's one of the big issues i have with most of these topics - they describe illustrations rather than concepts that should be fleshed out. my suggestion is to start with something extremely vague and ask for 30ish variation sketches/thumbs. if you ask for "it came from the deep, it destroys los angeles in level 5, and the hero has to kill it with a colossal harpoon gun" and let people run with it, you'll start with bog-monsters and godzillas and giant squids but by the end have something pretty cool that will work much better in the portfolios of people looking to get into concept art. not only that, but after you get a solid concept painting of it for the next assignment, the third can be putting it into an environment.

I don't mind using 3CH like topics used at all (in fact I suggested it in class) but really I don't see a huge difference between "unusual pets" and the "postapocalyptic bunny" one. That the two bunny oriented topics aren't that different doesn't really matter since we're only choosing one topic...that was just a stream of consciousness in terms of suggestions, which is why they're similar etc., but it'll boil down to which topic people most want to illustrate.

Also, I don't assume that everyone wants to be a concept artist - perhaps it's useful to discuss a set of topics geared more toward illustration / vs. more toward concept art. What are your thoughts?

The line between illo / concept art can become pretty confused, 3CH is used all the time for concept art but to me the topic generated seems more geared toward an illo. I think people can take any topic or concept and tailor it toward their needs, be it illustration or concept art, or even fine art, etc.

Actually, the way I saw the first Imaginative Figure Workshop, was the complete thing... from concept to illustration (hence my late submission... working on it!)
For me, it is the final illustration that matters. The fact that a concept has to work in order to make the illustration work, is very true, but creating a good illustration is much more than that.

Anyway, I think everyone can interpret these topics as they wish. And every participant is free to take his/her entry as far as they like...

How much time does a professional concept artist get to come up with a character?
How far are those concepts supposed to be worked out within the given timeframe?
What's the best workflow for me, to be able to get decent results within a certain timeframe?

Questions like that arise in the head of a hobbyist like me. It's interesting because -no matter what the topic is- we can learn about industry standards, as well as about the technical aspects of developing a concept, and using it as a basis for a decent illustration.

Rebecca:
I wasn't thinking of the 3CH stuff specifically - though that is pretty neat. What I meant was that if the topic has some specific design constraints (level 5 putting it solidly in the realm of design for a game, killing it with a harpoon meaning you can be creative with that - maybe a soft underbelly or really big eyes or something to get poked later, etc) that you can really jam on a design that isn't in a vacuum. It is far less appropriate for people not doing concept art though, so maybe it isn't such a good idea. the other thing is that if you ask for 30 variations/thumbnails on something you'll end up with something much more thought out, regardless of what the topic is. Maybe just have everyone at otis do a whole gang of sketches and online folks can treat it as either concept or illus.?

I kind of like the conjoined polar opposites idea...Would be a great exercise in expressing opposite emotions and expressions, and also pinpointing the muscle actions in the face and body that make them so....OPPOSITE..
Glenn

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